Funeral for a friend.

treitz3

First off.....this is not your typical post.

Today, my friends and I laid down to rest a good friend of ours. Spencer Mims the 3rd. Most of my close friends had known him for close to two decades. Great guy, full of laughter, well rounded and overall just a wonderful person to have known. Read into this what you will. The following link is an article by the local news affiliate that pretty much states what all of the newscasts have stated.

http://www.wbtv.com/story/20517942/spencer-mims-iii-dead-after-charging-at-officers-with-box-cutter

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -

Two Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers are on administrative leave after an overnight shooting that ended a man's life.

During a traffic stop in the Steele Creek-area, officers were approached by an elderly man who said he was having problems with his son at home and needed help.

Just before 11 p.m. Sunday night, Officers notified police in the area of the man's house on Cooper Drive and units were dispatched to the 300 block of Cooper Drive, off South Boulevard.

That's where officers encountered a man they said was holding a box cutter to his throat. The man was later identified as Spencer Mims III.

"Heard yelling", says neighbor Texann Lightner, who has known the family for 30 years.

Police said Mims refused to drop his weapon.

Officer Michael Whitlock, a veteran officer, shocked Mims with a taser, but investigators say that didn't stop him.

Investigators say Mims charged at the officers with the box cutter still in hand.

Neighbor Texann Lightner says she "heard 3 gunshots. One right after the other. Policemen were already here when shots were fired."

CMPD says Officer Jeremy Donaldson, on the job almost a year and a half, shot Mims at least once.

Mims was rushed to the hospital, where he later died.

CMPD tells WBTV that a record check so far does not show police responding to the house prior to Sunday night.

Homicide detectives closed down the street, and were on scene for more than six hours while crime scene investigators gathered clues and talked with witnesses.

Officers Whitlock and Donaldson are on administrative leave during the investigation. That is standard procedure for an officer-involved shooting.

Monday morning, family and friends rallied around the father who went to police for help. Neighbors say the Mims' alleged behavior last night is opposite to the man they knew.

"Totally out of character" says Lightner. "Totally out of character. He drove by - he would wave, he would speak. If he was in the front yard, he would yell hello to whoever. I never knew there was anything unusual".

Another neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, says "he was very sweet. Very thoughtful. If I ever needed anything, both he and his father said they would be for me."

That neighbor says she knew Mims since she was in the third grade.

"We've always talked - had wonderful conversations", she says.

Copyright 2013 WBTV. All Rights Reserved

What has been done has been done and there is nothing we can do to bring him back. What I would like to discuss is if your thoughts reside on whether this was an appropriate reaction by the responding officers of the CMPD. While I may have my own thoughts on this, it would be interesting to hear what thoughts other folks have without having known the deceased.

Tom

dkg999

He charged them with a box cutter ........... wow and we couldn't have moved out of the way and tasered him again, used pepper spray, etc. I know what the procedures are, however many times procedure now replaces thinking and facilitates suicide by cop. I'm sorry for your friend. RIP.

schwarcw

Let me say first that I am very sorry for your loss. It's a sad ending to a human when violence is involved. Especially with the circumstances as described in the newspaper article. I hope the family and friends of Spencer can find a way to come to peace at some point. A terrible tragedy.

So many intangibles, it's hard to say. Those tasers are supposed to be very effective. Why they didn't work, I don't know. Why did you friend attempt to "come after" the Police with a box cutter after he was tasered? I don't know. Did the officers actually fear for their lives? Who knows. One policeman was a veteran, one was only on the job for a 1 1/2 years. Did he really fear for his life? Hard to say as only he knows. Why did he need to shoot him three times? I guess I have more questions than a real opinion. I feel sorry for your loss. RIP Spencer

decal

While I sympathize the loss of your friend, I feel this is not the place to discuss the issue.

Clipdat

It's bad enough that the taser has become such a "go to" tactic for law enforcement these days, but to resort to lethal force over the threat of a box cutter is absolutely ridiculous. So instead of putting their asses on the line and resorting to an old fashioned manual take down & restraint, they decided to end his life instead. The worst that could have happened is they might end up with a deep cut and require emergency surgery. Instead, they made a selfish decision in the heat of the moment.

What a tragic story and I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.

Toxis

Devil's advocate here... But if you just tazered a guy and he came running at you with a box knife, you have no idea of the capabilities he has with that knife. To say you can't kill someone with a single swipe across a throat or a main vein elsewhere, of course they feared for their lives at some point. Don't get me wrong, this is a tragedy and I'm sorry for the loss but look at it from all angles before yelling brutality.

jbooker82

Toxis wrote: »

Devil's advocate here... But if you just tazered a guy and he came running at you with a box knife, you have no idea of the capabilities he has with that knife. To say you can't kill someone with a single swipe across a throat or a main vein elsewhere, of course they feared for their lives at some point. Don't get me wrong, this is a tragedy and I'm sorry for the loss but look at it from all angles before yelling brutality.

yep x2

F1nut

Tom, I'm sorry for the loss of your good friend.

During a traffic stop in the Steele Creek-area, officers were approached by an elderly man who said he was having problems with his son at home and needed help.

Not to point out the obvious, but something happened to/with your friend in order for his father to seek police help. Hopefully, what that was will come out at some point. Have you spoken to his father? From what little info there is, it sounds like the behavior of a person on PCP to me.

Without being there, it's hard to say whether the shooting was justified, but I'm sure that will come out as well.

teekay0007

First off, I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend. The whole episode is a great tragedy with a very sad ending. An ending that will affect several people, even the cops involved, for a long time to come.

That being said, and if the story as reported above is accurate, I do think excessive force was used. Picture the scene: The cops arrive to find a man, apparently distraught and on the verge of a possible suicide attempt. They confront him and order him to drop his weapon. He refuses, and instead of taking his own life, he charges the officers with the box cutter. On the surface, this certainly appears to be an attempt at suicide by cop or the actions of someone who's wired on something, quite possibly PCP. Were the cops in fear for their lives? More than likely they were and the taser was a good response to that threat. When he kept on coming at them, again an action consistent with someone strung out on PCP, were they right in escalating their response? Yes, of course they were. But, just think about the weapon he had and the response it drew. He was "armed" with a box cutter that could extend maybe 4"-5" beyond his extended arm and hand. I would certainly hope that the officers would have been trained to address the issue in a manner that didn't need to take the man's life if at all possible. How about meeting his charge with the wielding of a cop's night stick (with easily a foot-and-a-half to two-foot reach beyond the officer's hand) and/or the shields cops use when confronted by unruly crowds? It sounds like they (yes, more than one of them was there) knew what he had for a weapon as they confronted him and ordered him to drop it. I know that in a betting situation, I'd bet 100 times out of 100 on the trained cops with night sticks, shields and pepper spray and zero times for the tased guy with the box cutter. Now, had he had the box cutter to someone else's throat, then that would have been a different story.

This is only my opinion, based on the info presented above as factual.

Polkersince85

Sorry for the loss of your friend. I agree with F1 on there was something that made him act that way, either PCP or Bath salts. In this day and time, if someone approaches an LEO with a deadly weapon, they are doing down.

Amherst

Very sorry for the tragic loss of your friend.




Sad as this story is please keep in mind there has not been a news report with complete facts or even most of them from the news media in decades.

rebuy

What the hell are bath salts?

Msabot1

Such a tragedy....

markmarc

Sorry for the loss of your friend Treitz, hopefully the memories of the good times will overshadow the tragic end.

I remember talking to a cop years ago about what Angel Dust (PCP) could do to someone. He related the story of it taking four well-built cops and himself to restrain a guy no bigger than Barney Fife because he was so high on the stuff. The strength and physicality of the guy amazed them all.

brgman

Sorry for your loss man.
Crazy sh#t happens everyday with people and to people.
Sometimes it hits home.Sadly it did for you this time.

Little one

Most likely, Spencer's dad was worried about his son's well-being and sought help for that reason. Obviously, tazing a man who is holding a blade to his own throat is dangerous (especially for the person holding a box cutter up to his own throat) and stupid , but most likely those two cops were panicked and did what they'd been trained to do, not knowing any better. They were not trained to handle this sort of situation. Spencer would not have wanted to hurt anyone else, and in the end probably didn't truly want to hurt himself either. From what he told me, he loved his dad very, very much. They supported and looked after each other. I'm sure his reaction to the tazing was just as adrenaline induced as the cops' action toward him. He was not violent or a drug head, but a kind, brilliant human being who went through some very difficult things. He definitely wasn't on PCP. I love how one person decides to comment that that is a possibility (probably a little out of line, you think?) and another, less intelligent person, decides to respond as though that is a fact. I agree that this probably is not the place for the discussion and that maybe the discussion itself really doesn't need to happen... And I get that this is the sort of thing that makes one curious, but be mindful of your speculations and don't fool yourself into thinking they're more than that. (Of course, I have to try and remember to also be mindful of mine)

treitz3

Hello, Little one and welcome to Club Polk. You obviously know Spencer and the family well. We might have even met each other at the funeral.

I think it would b fair to say that everybody involved is in shock at what transpired Sunday night. You are correct, Spencer was not on PCP. It has been mentioned that some have more questions than answers and for the most part, this is true. Everybody has their own way of dealing with death and this is my way of dealing with it. I have many friends here on this forum and I'd like to know what their thoughts are on the subject. There is nothing we can do at this point to change what happened but if Spencer was still with us and this happened to someone else who was a close friend, I would go and talk to Spencer and others about it. Not bottle it up inside.

I hear of these type of situations on the news every so often and one always thinks that it won't happen to them. In this case, Spencer was a good friend of mine [ours]. This one hits home. Hard.

Tom

thsmith

Sorry for your loss Tom, not matter the situation it is never easy.

scottyboy76

Sorry for the loss, not only for you,tom, but his family, friends, and all who cared.

Life is strange, and many many times unfair and unpredictable.

michael1947

I am sorry for your loss but I think it's time to end this thread.

WilliamM2

Sad way to end it all, suicide by cop. To those claiming the police used excessive force, Mr. Mims made that decision, not the police.

Now his father will feel guilty for the rest of his life, because he got the police involved. I'm sure the officer is going to have a hard time dealing with this the rest of his life as well. I feel sorry for both of them, and hope they can cope with it.

drumminman

Sorry for your loss. I's difficult to know to know exactly what transpired from a news report, which is all you can go on at this point. Although a box cutter can be a deadly weapon, it seems like these LEO's could have taken this guy down without killing him. At the most shot him in a non lethal area, and then closed in.

I realize events happen quickly and can spiral out of control, but the cops had more options than killing someone who clearly was not in his right mind.

wayne3burk

I'm sorry for your loss.